The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-01-15

with u less enthusiastic member OF the
profession. After a few moments he kind
" inquired il was hungry l answered
that / was, most empnatically 80, and he
said he would order the steward to pre-
pare dinner for me in the chart room. l
told him that, If he had no objection,
would wait aud dine with him. with
me ~ he exclaimed, "Then youll wait un-
I'll we reach Trieste
Surely you are not going to fast that
long!n
THE steward will bring me a mouthful
of something to eat and a cup of coffee and
rum at intervals, but shall not quit the
bridge until the Adria is at anchor in
Trieste harbor."
1t did not require much solicitation to
prevail upon me to go down and partake
of a jolly good feed in the chart room.
Lighting fragrant Virginia. l rejoined
the captain on the bridge.
BY this time my eyes had, in certain
measure, become accustomed TO the styg-
ian darkness, and, looking ahead into
the gloom, i saw sight which
nearly froze the blood in my vsus
"a huge mass Of rocks rising up out of
the waves directly ahead, and seemingly
not n cables length away; even fancied
| could see the spray, flying high in air,
and hear the angry roaring of the pillows
as they burst upon the rocks. MY God"
cried. Land ahead"
Have you Just now seen thatr' inquired
the captain, calmly.
But we are heading dead upon itln
Exactly" he said coolly; "that is the
southwest extremity of the Island OF
LISA, and the southeast extremity of a
little rocky islet lying west Of it, but you
do not see the strait which separats them
Indeed, you would scarcely perceive it in
daytime if you did not know exactly where
it was"
But surely you are not going to try TO
pass through there and on night like
thism
$40 you think am going around and lose
forty miles when that wretched old man
down there in the cabin is counting every
throb of the propeller while his heart is
bleeding for his only child:' he asked,
savagely.
Then | commended my soul to HIM who
gave it and resigned myself to my fate.
To convey to your mind some idea of what
foolhardy and perilous undertaking 1t
was must give you u slight dose OF
Topography The island of Lissa lies about
twenty miles west of the island Of Lesina
and directly in the track of vessels bound
up the Adriatic to Trieste; to 90 TO the
eastward of it involves doubling the island
and entails a loss of forty miles. LISA
is separated from a little rocky
slet Of the No Name series by
strait not more than two hun
dred yards wide at any point By
going outside of this islet and adjacent
shoals loss Of about thirty miles is in
Cured. This strait is not lighted at all,
nor is the depth of water to be found there
given on any chart of the coast, as the
Austrian Government probably supposed
that no one would be foolhardy enough
to attempt the passage. | do not think
even fishing boat would care to risk it III
the finest weather Imagine, then, how
comfortable | must have felt at the pros
pect of this Wild, tempastuous night,
amid the shrie king of the blast, the hoarsc
roar of the thunder, the distant boom OF
the breakers and the baleful glare of the
lightning l ventured to ask Captain
NJ if he knew the prevailing set
of the current and the depth of
water. EYES," he replied; ION my
voyage down TO the PirIus last month
hove to of the island and took soundings;
found scant live fathoms, with current
setting to the north at the rate of one knot
per hour. With this wind you may add
three knots to that, which, at the rate she
is going, ought to carry US through in ten
minutes
At any rate you could not accuse the
man of rushing to his fate blndfolded We
were now within half mile of the cn-
trance to the strait, and the laundering
crash Of the pillows on the iron-bound
coast had grown horribly distinct At
HnSh IF |
glimpse of the clouds Of spray flung high in
air by the angry waves as they broke madly
on the rocks, and thought what short work
they would make of the Adria if the
least characterization threw her within
their power Heartily did wish that Cap
tain Nj. had refused to let me come aboard.
Two of the Oldest Quartcrmasters We're
sent to the wheel, and the captain roared
down the speaking tube to the chief and
second engineers to stand by the engines.
We had now entered the strait and 1t
was like the mouth of hell. The great
towering cliffs seemed to meet in the
gloomy darkness DER head the thunder
Of the breakers was deafening, and the
water all around us was sccthing, milky
foam. ! confidently expected to feel a
shock every moment, and the slightest
touch at the rate we were going would
have torn the keel completely out of her.
The captains eyes were glued to his ma
rine glasses, while IA faint glow, just below
his nose proclaimed that the short pipe
was still in operation
suddenly he cried ,out in Italian to the
quartermaster: Hard a-port, double
quick, round with her livcly!'
The Adria swung gracefully around in
answer TO her helm; | looked back. The
towering cliffs were far astern and the
booming of the breakers was becoming
more faint IN the distance. We had passed
the straits aud were in the open sea The
captain slapped me Familiarity on the back
and looked as though he expected TO be
complimented. Wen, | suppose he de
served To be, but just then / hated him
cordially for giving me such "a fright. II
certainly was great feat in
navigation. but then never was
more than mildly enthusiastic about
yachting The captain now advised
me to 60 below, saying that the fun was
all over for the night It is remarkable
what absurd ideas some people entertain
as 70 what constitutes fun. We made the
run in thirty-thrcc hours and some min
utes After we rounded Cape Salvatore
and were in full view of Trieste, another
dilemma presented Itself: there was
81 Oil Tan laySf maintained al